Soul-stirring Scotland

A cultural beacon, 5,000 years of history and epic landscapes... we encounter a wildly diverse country worth visiting in all seasons

- Robin McKelvie

It was a life-affirming moment that led to my eureka realisation. With the sun warming my face on Harris’ sweeping Scarista beach, I couldn’t see where the sands began, nor ended. I did spot the seal checking me out from the turquoise water, and a squawk of seabirds swirling in front of the hulk of glowering Hebridean hills, forged from some of the oldest rocks on the planet.

Then I wasn’t alone anymore. A German couple idled up the sands. She made it to the top of the dunes first and let out a yelp. He trudged upwards wondering what the fuss was about. Then yelped too. An hour later it got ‘busy’. A backpack-clad guy from Liverpool ambled up the wildflower-dappled dunes. As the vast natural amphitheatre of Scarista unfurled before him he threw his cap in the air and dropped to the sands in prayer. Welcome to Scotland.

The eureka moment came the next day when I cycled on up the coast, after a shared dram and foraged spoots (razor clams) cooked over a wee campfire with my new Liverpudlian backpacking buddy. Later on my journey, as I marvelled at the starched white sands of Luskentyre, a retired gent from Toronto declared, “Wow, this looks just like the Caribbean.” I thought about that for a second, then said, “I think it’s the other way round. This landscape is millions of years older; the Caribbean looks just like Scotland.”